Eats Blog

Dallas’ Historic West End is a fabulous restaurant Mecca just waiting to happen

There are plenty of chain restaurants in Dallas' Historic West End, but little else, gastronomically speaking

The first time I visited Dallas — when I came a little over four years ago to interview for my job at The Dallas Morning News — I found myself with a couple hours on my hands and, since I was staying downtown at the Hyatt, I decided to take a walk around the Historic West End. Exploring the old quarter of any city is often the first thing I do when I visit a place for the first time, so this would be perfect. I ventured out…and was sort of stunned at how dead it was. Such beautiful old red brick buildings, very cool. But honestly, I saw hardly anyone on the streets. I ducked into the most interesting place for lunch I could find — Sonny Bryan’s Smokehouse.

Cut to the spring of 2013. Dallasites and the city’s developers all seem like they want the same thing: urban-feeling neighborhoods where it’s pleasant to walk around, shop and dine. The Bishop Arts District is such a hit that developer Jim Lake, Jr. announced late last year that he’s working to create an adjacent Jefferson Market District. Mixed-used developments have sprung up from the West Village to the Shops at Legacy and everywhere in between, offering all manner of fakey-fake facsimiles — that’s how desperate we all are for pleasant cityscapes.

A vacant restaurant space beckons at the corner of Record St. and Elm. In case you can't make out the phone number for the rental, it's 214-526-6262.

So, hello???!!! Why are we not hearing about scores of new restaurants and chic boutiques opening in the Historic West End? The area has everything: splendid old historic buildings, shady trees, pretty patios (I saw a couple vacant ones in front of buildings that looked abandoned today). Today at lunchtime I took a walk around the district, wondering how it would seem to the many visitors who will be coming to Dallas in November when we commemorate JFK. It really is lovely. I understand that the area used to be hopping back in the 1980s, until Deep Ellum became the cool neighborhood, but now, while there are some perfectly serviceable chain restaurants and a few older independents (Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse, Hoffbrau Steak House), there’s really not much. Kudos to Ellen’s Southern Kitchen — an appealing spot that opened last year on Market St. I also walked by something called Cafe Nello. It looks cute from the outside, but its online menu only lists three choices (roast chicken, a “cowboy Coney” hotdog and “all day breakfast”).

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